Request for everyone: say hi to pilots you don’t recognize. I’m a shy introvert, but usually just doing that is enough to get pilots talking and also makes learning that they are new to the site very quick and easy. A quick briefing on the area and the AJX approach pattern, I think, would reduce a lot of trouble and danger with out of towners, and also have them walk away with a much more memorable (in a good way) flight.

We just had some HG pilots visiting this weekend that could have had a much better time for themselves and other pilots in the air if they had bothered to look at the site guidelines (one nearly clipped a PG doing figure eights in the PG approach and another overshot and landed in the bushes), so for those folks (since we can’t make everyone do their homework), an unsolicited in-person briefing would go a long way.

We will also be making some adjustments to some of the pages on the site (home page and the “Join” page) to make skipping over the approach pattern info a bit harder.

Teamwork makes the dream work!

Those are good points, Marc. Common sense isn’t so common, it would seem. Would most of us go to a new site and just launch without at least looking for a bit of information about the place first? Probably not (at least, I hope not).

Keep in mind that there is no “day use sign up sheet,” since day use is no more.

We do have the approach patterns on big posters in the LZ, but as you said, not sure how many read those. I’m not sure a sign on the stairs would help, but we could certainly try that out. In talking to pilots on launch, a scenario I’ve run into more than once is visiting pilots driving directly up to launch, so any signage in the LZ would be moot.

What seems to help (I try to do this as much as I can, but I’m only there usually once a week on the weekends) is saying hello to pilots that you don’t recognize and get them engaged in a little conversation. That makes it really easy to point them in the right direction for information, getting their membership squared away, and giving them a site intro if they haven’t had one already. We’ll need EVERYONE to participate in that to make that effective, but I think it could do the most good.

Awesome! Thanks Jeremy.

Thanks Chris. I saw your order come through – you’re good to go.

All great points, Tim. Regardless of wing type, I think we can all agree on:

• Always clear your turns! ESPECIALLY when you’re in the approach pattern and ESPECIALLY late in the day when lots of pilots are coming into AJX, your head should be on a swivel.
• If you’re not comfortable with a crowded approach, consider postponing your launch until the air traffic clears up a bit, or (if conditions and your skills are good), stay up and away from the pattern until it thins out before making your approach.
• The approach pattern is DEFINITELY NOT the place to get more air time. Once you’re in it, you should approach and land as efficiently as possible. Not sure if this is the preferred spot, but if I get close and I’m either too high or still encountering lift, I’ll move into the clear area northwest of the LZ and west of the powerlines to burn altitude, as that tends to be upwind of the LZ late in the day (making it easy to move into the pattern once I’ve gotten down a bit). Also, if the pattern all of a sudden becomes mobbed with pilots, I can easily aim for the bailout on the SW corner.

We have an established traffic pattern, which creates expectations for all of us (we expect the HGs to be generally on the East side, and the PGs to generally be on the West). This isn’t really up for debate. I’m a somewhat greener pilot, but I don’t see how the approaches could be modified to make them more efficient or safe. We have to work with the terrain and weather features that we have and stick to the well-established pattern – it’s when pilots “go rogue” that we have problems. Would be like if I decided one day to start driving on the other side of the road because I thought the Brits were onto something great. Crashes would happen.

In-depth analysis of the paracouch.

Thanks Shaggy!